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Reducing uncertainty and increasing consistency: technical improvements to forest carbon pool estimation using the national forest inventory of the US

Informally Refereed

Abstract

The FIA program does not directly measure forest C stocks. Instead, a combination of empirically derived C estimates (e.g., standing live and dead trees) and models (e.g., understory C stocks related to stand age and forest type) are used to estimate forest C stocks. A series of recent refinements in FIA estimation procedures have sought to reduce the uncertainty associated with the national C inventory by: 1) refining forest floor C estimates with in situ data, 2) updating the live belowground and understory C pools modeling approaches, 3) refining objective delineations between woodland and forest land uses, and 4) revising managed land delineations. The results of these studies in the context of forest C accounting and future refinements are discussed in the context of UNFCCC reporting.

Parent Publication

Citation

Woodall, C.W.; Domke, G.M.; Coulston, J.; Russell, M.B.; Smith, J.A.; Perry, C.H.; Ogle, S.M.; Healey, S.; Gray, A. 2015. Reducing uncertainty and increasing consistency: technical improvements to forest carbon pool estimation using the national forest inventory of the US. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8–10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 133.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/50313